Automated electronic computing and communication system event analysis and management

ABSTRACT

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for automatic automated electronic computing and communication system event analysis and management are disclosed. Automatic automated electronic computing and communication system event analysis and management may include identifying an event, generating a computer readable representation of the electronic computing and communication system using automated topology enumeration, identifying an element of the electronic computing and communication system based on the representation, identifying a metric for the element, automatically investigating to determine a value for the metric, generating a remediation priority for the element based on a metric weight associated with the metric and a network layer value associated with a network layer associated with a network layer role associated with the element, and generating a graphical representation of the electronic computing and communication system indicating the remediation priority.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure is generally related to information technology,and in particular to computer-implemented methods, systems, andapparatuses to analyze events occurring in an electronic computing andcommunication system.

BACKGROUND

An electronic computing and communication system may include one or morecommunicating and computing elements, which may, in the course ofcommunicating and computing, generate event information, which mayindicate an abnormal operating condition, such as a failure, which mayaffect one or more elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, such as a service. Accordingly, a method andapparatus for automated electronic computing and communication systemevent analysis and management may be advantageous.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the disclosure is a method of automatically analyzing anelectronic computing and communication system event. Automaticallyanalyzing an electronic computing and communication system event mayinclude identifying information indicating an event in an electroniccomputing and communication system, generating a computer readablerepresentation of the electronic computing and communication systemusing automated topology enumeration, wherein the computer readablerepresentation represents a plurality of elements of the electroniccomputing and communication system organized in a hierarchical pluralityof network layers, identifying an element of the electronic computingand communication system from plurality of elements based on thecomputer readable representation of the electronic computing andcommunication system, identifying a metric for the element of theelectronic computing and communication system, and automaticallyinvestigating the electronic computing and communication system todetermine a value for the metric for the element of the electroniccomputing and communication system. On a condition that the value is anabnormal value, automatically analyzing an electronic computing andcommunication system event may include generating a remediation priorityfor the element of the electronic computing and communication systembased on a metric weight associated with the metric and a network layervalue associated with a network layer from the hierarchical plurality ofnetwork layers, wherein the element is associated with a network layerrole corresponding to the network layer. Automatically analyzing anelectronic computing and communication system event generating agraphical representation of the electronic computing and communicationsystem, the graphical representation indicating the remediationpriority, and outputting or storing the representation.

Another aspect of the disclosure is a method of automatically analyzingan electronic computing and communication system event. Automaticallyanalyzing an electronic computing and communication system event mayinclude identifying information indicating an event in an electroniccomputing and communication system, generating a computer readablerepresentation of the electronic computing and communication systemusing automated topology enumeration, wherein the computer readablerepresentation represents a plurality of elements of the electroniccomputing and communication system organized in a hierarchical pluralityof network layers, wherein each respective element from the plurality ofelements is associated with a respective network layer rolecorresponding to a respective network layer, identifying a set ofelements of the electronic computing and communication system fromplurality of elements based on the computer readable representation ofthe electronic computing and communication system, identifying aplurality of metrics, wherein each element from the set of elements isassociated with at least one respective metric from the plurality ofmetrics, automatically investigating the electronic computing andcommunication system to determine a plurality of values, wherein eachvalue from the plurality of values corresponds with a respective metricfrom the plurality of metrics and a respective element from the set ofelements, generating a plurality of remediation priorities, wherein eachremediation priority from the plurality of remediation prioritiescorresponds with a respective value from the plurality of values, arespective metric from the plurality of metrics, and a respectiveelement from the set of elements, and wherein each remediation priorityfrom the plurality of remediation priorities is based on a metric weightassociated with the respective corresponding metric and a network layervalue associated with a respective network layer associated with arespective network layer role associated with the respective element,generating a graphical representation of the electronic computing andcommunication system, the graphical representation indicating at leastsome of the remediation priorities, and outputting or storing therepresentation.

Another aspect of the disclosure is a method of automatically analyzingan electronic computing and communication system event. Automaticallyanalyzing an electronic computing and communication system event mayinclude identifying information indicating an event in an electroniccomputing and communication system, wherein the event is associated witha service, generating a computer readable representation of theelectronic computing and communication system using automated topologyenumeration, wherein the computer readable representation represents aplurality of elements of the electronic computing and communicationsystem organized in a hierarchical plurality of network layers, whereineach respective element from the plurality of elements is associatedwith a respective network layer role corresponding to a respectivenetwork layer, identifying a set of elements of the electronic computingand communication system from plurality of elements based on thecomputer readable representation of the electronic computing andcommunication system, identifying a plurality of metrics, wherein eachelement from the set of elements is associated with at least onerespective metric from the plurality of metrics, automaticallyinvestigating the electronic computing and communication system todetermine a plurality of values, wherein each value from the pluralityof values corresponds with a respective metric from the plurality ofmetrics and a respective element from the set of elements, generating aplurality of remediation priorities, wherein each remediation priorityfrom the plurality of remediation priorities corresponds with arespective value from the plurality of values, a respective metric fromthe plurality of metrics, and a respective element from the set ofelements, and wherein each remediation priority from the plurality ofremediation priorities is based on a metric weight associated with therespective corresponding metric and a network layer value associatedwith a respective network layer associated with a respective networklayer role associated with the respective element, and generating agraphical representation of the electronic computing and communicationsystem. Generating the graphical representation may include generating agraphical representation of the hierarchical plurality of networklayers, wherein the service corresponds with a network layer from thehierarchical plurality of network layers, and for each element from theset of elements, generating a graphical representation of the element,and, on a condition that a value from the plurality of valuescorresponding to the element is an abnormal value, generating agraphical representation indicating that the value is an abnormal valueand indicating a category associated with a metric from the plurality ofmetrics associated with the value. Generating the graphicalrepresentation may include generating a graphical representation of apath between an external device and the service, wherein the pathintersects with at least one element from the set of elements in eachnetwork layer from the hierarchical plurality of network layers.Automatically analyzing an electronic computing and communication systemevent may include outputting the graphical representation forpresentation to a user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawingswherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout theseveral views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic of an example of a cloud computing system inaccordance with this disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example internal configuration of acomputing device in accordance with this disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example of electronic computing andcommunication system monitoring in accordance with this disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an example of automated electronic computingand communication system event analysis and management in accordancewith this disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example of electronic computing andcommunication system automated topology enumeration in accordance withthis disclosure; and

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example of an interface for electroniccomputing and communication system automated event analysis inaccordance with this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An electronic computing and communication system may include manyelements, such as computers, routers, switches, servers, and the like,in communication internally, within the electronic computing andcommunication system, and externally, with elements outside theelectronic computing and communication system. The elements,individually or in combination, may generate event information messagesor signals that may describe the status of the electronic computing andcommunication system, particularly changes in the status that mayindicate a current or potential problem with the electronic computingand communication system. Events can be analyzed to identify how theyaffect the electronic computing and communication system and todetermine how to correct current problems or mitigate the risk of futureproblems. Event analysis may be performed manually, which may includeutilizing significant human resources to investigate and remediateevents. For example, a human may manually trace physical wiresconnecting elements of the electronic computing and communication systemor manually review data and interact with the electronic computing andcommunication system to identify current or historical state informationfor the electronic computing and communication system.

Automated electronic computing and communication system event analysisand management may reduce the human resource utilization associated withmanual event analysis and management, and may reduce the risk of humanerror. In some embodiments, automated electronic computing andcommunication system event analysis and management may include receivinginformation indicating an event, automatically discovering andenumerating the elements of the electronic computing and communicationsystem to generate a computer readable representation of the currentnetwork topology architecture, automatically investigating theelectronic computing and communication system to determine currentoperational state metrics, automatically evaluating the event based onthe current operational state metrics and the current network topologyarchitecture to determine respective remediation priorities for theelements of the electronic computing and communication system affectedby the event, automatically remediating one or more elements of theelectronic computing and communication system, or a combination thereof.In some embodiments, automated electronic computing and communicationsystem event analysis and management may include using one or moremonitoring templates, which may be generated based on input, such asuser input, or automatically based on automatically discovering andenumerating the elements of the electronic computing and communicationsystem.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of an example of an electronic computing andcommunication system 100 in accordance with this disclosure. Theelectronic computing and communication system can include customers,such as customers 110 and 120. A customer may have clients, such asclients 112, 114 for customer 110 and clients 122, 124 for customer 120.A client 112/114/122/124 may be implemented as a computing system, whichmay include one or more computing devices, such as a mobile phone, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a desktopcomputer, or any other computing device. Although two customers 110/120,each having two clients 112/114/122/124, are shown in FIG. 1, anelectronic computing and communication system may include any number ofcustomers or clients or may have a different configuration of customersor clients. For example, there may be hundreds or thousands of customersand each customer may have any number of clients.

The electronic computing and communication system 100 can includedatacenters, such as the two datacenters 130/140 shown. Each datacentermay have servers. For example, as shown the top datacenter 130 includestwo servers 132/134, and the bottom datacenter 140 includes two servers142/144. Each datacenter 130/140 may represent a different locationwhere servers are located, such as a datacenter facility in San Jose,Calif. or Amsterdam, Netherlands. Each server 132/134/142/144 may beimplemented as a computing system, which may include one or morecomputing devices, such as a desktop computer, a server computer, or anyother computer capable of operating as a server. Although twodatacenters 130/140, each including two servers 132/134/142/144 areshown in FIG. 1, an electronic computing and communication system mayhave any number of datacenters and servers or may have a differentconfiguration of datacenters and servers. For example, there may be tensof data centers and each data center may have hundreds or any number ofservers.

Clients 112/114/122/124 and servers 132/13/142/144 may be configured toconnect to a network 150. In some implementations, the clients of acustomer may connect to the network 150 via a common connection point.For example, the clients 112/114 of the customer 110 shown at the topleft of FIG. 1, are shown as connected via a common connection point orlink 116. In some implementations, one or more clients of a customer mayconnect to the network 150 via distinct links. For example, as shown inthe bottom left of FIG. 1, a client 122 may be connected via a firstlink 126, and another client 124 may be connected via a second linkcommunicating via link 128. A link may be wired, as shown by links116/126, wireless, as shown by connection point 128, or may include acombination of wired and wireless mediums.

The network 150 can, for example, be the Internet. The network 150 canalso be or include a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN),virtual private network (VPN), or any other means of electronic computercommunication capable of transferring data between any of clients112/114/122/124 and servers 132/134/142/144. The network 150, thedatacenters 130/140, or any other element, or combination of elements,of the system may include network hardware such as routers, switches,load balancers, other network devices, or combinations thereof. Forexample, each of datacenters 130/140 may have one or more load balancersfor routing traffic from network 150 to various servers, such as servers132/134/142/144.

Other implementations of the electronic computing and communicationsystem are also possible. For example, devices other than the clientsand servers shown may be included in the electronic computing andcommunication system. In an implementation, one or more additionalservers may operate as an electronic computing and communication systeminfrastructure control, from which servers, clients, or both, of thecloud infrastructure may be monitored, controlled, configured, or acombination thereof. For example, some or all of the techniquesdescribed herein may operate on said electronic computing andcommunication system servers. Alternatively or in addition, some or allof the techniques described herein may operate on servers, such asservers 132/134/142/144.

In some embodiments, one or more of the elements of the electroniccomputing and communication system 100, such as the clients112/114/122/124 or the servers 132/134/142/144, may be configured tostore, manage, and provide one or more databases, tables, or otherinformation sources, or a portion thereof, such as a configurationmanagement database (CMDB), a management information base (MIB), or acombination thereof. A configuration management database may includerecords representing one or more entities, devices, or units of theelectronic computing and communication system, such as the clients112/114/122/124, the customers 110/120, the datacenters 130/140, theservers 132/134/142/144, the access point 128, the network 150, or anyother element, portion of an element, or combination of elements of theelectronic computing and communication system 100. The configurationmanagement database may include information describing theconfiguration, the role, or both, of an element of the electroniccomputing and communication system 100. In some embodiments, amanagement information base may include one or more databases listingcharacteristics of the elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system 100. In some embodiments, an object identifier(OID) may represent object identifiers of objects or elements in theMIB.

In some embodiments, automated electronic computing and communicationsystem event analysis and management may be implemented on a singledevice, such as a single server. In some embodiments, automatedelectronic computing and communication system event analysis andmanagement may be implemented on a combination of devices, such as acombination of clients 112/114/122/124 and servers 132/134/142/144.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example internal configuration of acomputing device, such as a client 112/114/122/124 or a server132/134/142/144 of the electronic computing and communication system 100shown in FIG. 1. As previously described clients or servers may take theform of a computing system including multiple computing devices, or inthe form of a single computing device, for example, a mobile phone, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a desktopcomputer, a server computer and the like.

The internal configuration can include a processor 210, such as a CPU,memory 220, a network communication unit 230, a network communicationinterface 240, a user interface 250, a location identification unit 260,a power source 270, a bus 280, or a combination thereof.

The processor 210 can be a conventional central processing unit. Theprocessor 210 can include single or multiple processors each havingsingle or multiple processing cores. Alternatively, the processor 210can include another type of device, or multiple devices, capable ofmanipulating or processing information now-existing or hereafterdeveloped. The processor 210 can be a general purpose processor or aspecial purpose processor.

In some embodiments, the memory 220 may include random access memory(RAM), read only memory (ROM), a disk drive, a solid state drive, or acombination thereof. The memory 220 can include executable instructionsand data for immediate access by the processor 210. The memory 220 mayinclude one or more DRAM modules such as DDR SDRAM. In some embodiments,the memory 220 can include another type of device, or multiple devices,capable of storing data for processing by the processor 210 now-existingor hereafter developed. The processor 210 may access and manipulate datain the memory 220 via the bus 280. The memory 220 can include executableinstructions and application files along with other data. The executableinstructions can include, for example, an operating system and one ormore application programs for loading in whole or part into the memory220 and to be executed by the processor 210. The operating system canbe, for example, a Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux operating system. Theapplication program can include, for example, a web browser, a webserver, a database server, or a combination thereof. Application filescan, for example, include user files, database catalogs, andconfiguration information. The memory 220 may comprise one or multipledevices and may utilize one or more types of storage, such as solidstate or magnetic.

In some embodiments, the internal configuration may include one or moreinput/output devices, such as the network interface 240 and the userinterface 250. The network interface 240 and the user interface 250 canbe coupled to the processor 210 via the bus 280. The network interface240 can, for example, provide a connection to a network, such as thenetwork 150 shown in FIG. 1, and may take the form of a wired networkinterface, such as Ethernet, or a wireless network interface. Otheroutput devices that permit a user to program or otherwise use thecomputing device 200 can be provided in addition to or as an alternativeto the user interface 250. When the output device is or includes adisplay, the display can be implemented in various ways, including by aliquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode-ray tube (CRT) or lightemitting diode (LED) display, such as an OLED display.

Other implementations of the internal architecture of clients andservers are also possible. For example, servers may omit location unit260. The operations of the processor 210 can be distributed acrossmultiple machines which can be coupled directly or across a local areaor other network. The memory 220 can be distributed across multiplemachines such as network-based memory or memory in multiple machinesperforming the operations of clients or servers. Although depicted hereas a single bus, the bus 280 can be composed of multiple buses.

In some implementations, automated electronic computing andcommunication system event analysis and management may includegenerating a computer readable representation of an electronic computingand communication system, which may include representing physicalelements of the electronic computing and communication system, physicalconnectivity between elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, logical connectivity between elements, or acombination thereof. For example, generating the computer readablerepresentation may include determining a network topology, which mayrepresent physical elements, physical connectivity, or both; a networkarchitecture, which may represent logical connectivity; or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the electronic computing and communicationsystem may be represented by a network topology architecture, which mayinclude a combination of the network architecture and the networktopology.

In some embodiments, physical elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, such as servers, routers, wired or wireless links,and the like, may be included in a physical layer, which may berepresented by the network topology. In some embodiments, the networktopology may represent physical elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, their physical location, which may includerelative physical location, geospatial physical location, or both, andphysical connections. For example, an element of the electroniccomputing and communication system may communicate with another elementof the electronic computing and communication system via a physicalmedium, such as a linear bus, which may be a physical cable. In someembodiments, physical elements within the physical layer may includeother physical elements. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a computer 200may include a communication unit 240, such as an Ethernet interface.

In some implementations, elements of an electronic computing andcommunication system may communicate via a network stack, which mayinclude hierarchy of network communication layers. In some embodiments,the lowest layer of the network stack may be the physical layer and maycorrespond with the network topology. In some embodiments, theelectronic computing and communication system may include one or morenetwork stack layers above the physical layer. For example, theelectronic computing and communication system may include a data linklayer above the physical layer and a network layer above the data linklayer. In some embodiments, the data link layer may be omitted orcombined with the network layer. In some embodiments, the electroniccomputing and communication system may include one or more host orservice layers above the network layer. For example, the host layers mayinclude a transport layer above the network layer, a session layer abovethe transport layer, a presentation layer above the session layer, anapplication layer above the presentation layer, or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, any one or more layers may be omitted orcombined with other layers, and other layers may be included.

In some embodiments, the network architecture may represent the logicalorganization of the elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, which may include representing routing, paths, orflows of information in the electronic computing and communicationsystem. In some embodiments, the network architecture may include aseries of functional network architecture layers, which may be orientedrelative to a service, which may be, for example, an instance of anapplication executed on one or more physical servers. In someembodiments, the lowest layer of the network architecture may be theservice, or access, layer. In some embodiments, the network architecturemay include one or more layers above the service layer. In someembodiments, each layer may represent a defined degree of separationfrom, or proximity to, an instance of a service on one or more physicaldevices.

In some embodiments, the network architecture may include one or moredistribution or aggregation layers above the service layer. In someembodiments, the distribution or aggregation layers may include elementsof the electronic computing and communication system that distributeinformation toward the service layer elements, aggregate informationfrom the service layer elements, or both. For example, the mostproximate layer to the service layer, which may be referred to herein asthe second layer, may include a Top of Rack (ToR) switch. The next mostproximate layer, which may be above the second layer and may be referredto herein as the third layer, may include a Direct Server Return (DSR)load balancer.

In some embodiments, the network architecture may include one or morebackbone, or core, layers above the service layer. In some embodiments,the backbone layers may include elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system that transport information between distribution oraggregation layer elements, transport communications between theelectronic computing and communication system and external systems, orboth. For example, the network architecture may include a fourth layer,above the third layer, which may be a core layer, which may representthe broadest scope of communication within the electronic computing andcommunication system, and a fifth layer, above the fourth layer, whichmay be a border layer, which may include, for example, a firewall.

In some embodiments, the network architecture may include an externalinterface layer, such as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) layer. Insome embodiments, the external interface layer may include elements,such as a circuit, on the external side of an interface between theelectronic computing and communication system and external systems, suchas the Internet, and elements, such as a firewall, of a backbone layer,such as the boarder layer, may include elements on the internal side ofthe interface between the electronic computing and communication systemand external systems.

In some embodiments, an element of the electronic computing andcommunication system may operate within one or more network architecturelayers. In some embodiments, the operation of an element of theelectronic computing and communication system may be identified as arole for the element. For simplicity and clarity, elements of theelectronic computing and communication system operating according toroles in a network architecture layer may be described herein relativeto an identified, or current, layer. For example, elements operating inthe current layer may be referred to herein as lateral elements,elements operating in a layer below the current layer, which may becloser to the service layer, may be referred to herein as lower layerelements, and elements operating in layers above the current layer,which may be further from the service layer than the current layer, maybe referred to herein as higher layer elements.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example of electronic computing andcommunication system monitoring in accordance with this disclosure. Insome embodiments, automated electronic computing and communicationsystem event analysis and management may include monitoring and may beimplemented in one or more computing devices, such as one or more of theclients 112/114/122/124, the servers 132/134/142/144, or a combinationthereof as shown in FIG. 1.

Implementations of automated electronic computing and communicationsystem event analysis and management may include monitoring anelectronic computing and communication system which may includeautomated topology enumeration at 300, generating monitoring templates310, monitoring the electronic computing and communication system at320, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the electronic computing and communication systemtopology may be automatically enumerated at 300. In some embodiments,automatic network topology enumeration may include automaticallydiscovering one or more elements, such as devices or units, in theelectronic computing and communication system, discovering communicationconnections between the elements, determining a logical organization ofnetwork communication, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments,automated topology enumeration at 300 may be similar to the automatedtopology enumeration shown in FIG. 5.

In some embodiments, one or more monitoring templates may be generatedat 310. In some embodiments, a monitoring template may indicate one ormore elements of the electronic computing and communication system to bemonitored. In some embodiments, generating monitoring templates mayinclude manually generating monitoring templates, automaticallygenerating monitoring templates, or both.

In some embodiments, manually generating monitoring templates mayinclude generating a monitoring template, which may include copying ormodifying a previously generated monitoring template, in response toinput, such as user input. For example, a first monitoring template maybe associated with a device manufacturer and a second monitoringtemplate may be generated based on the first monitoring template and maybe associated with a device manufactured by the device manufacturer.

In some embodiments, automatically generating monitoring templates mayinclude automatically generating, which may include copying or modifyinga previously generated monitoring template, monitoring templates basedon the topology of the electronic computing and communication system,such as the topology automatically enumerated at 300. For example, oneor more monitoring templates may be generated automatically based on theSNMP discovery information.

In some embodiments, one or more monitoring templates may be stored in adata store, such as a configuration management database (CMDB). In someembodiments, the stored monitoring templates may be associated with, ormapped to, information indicating the discovered elements of theelectronic computing and communication system, such as the manufacturerof the element, the device type of the element, the model of theelement, the firmware version for the element, one or more hardwarecomponents of the element, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system may be monitored at 320. In some embodiments, theelectronic computing and communication system may be monitored at 320based on the monitoring templates. For example, the electronic computingand communication system may be monitored at 320 based on definedmonitoring templates, based on the monitoring templates generated at310, or based on a combination of defined monitoring templates andautomatically generated monitoring templates. In some embodiments, amonitoring template may be associated with one or more metrics, orconditions, and monitoring at 320 may include determining whether toinclude a monitoring template in the monitoring based on the associatedmetrics. For example, generating the monitoring templates at 320 mayinclude determining metrics, or values thereof, for respectivemonitoring templates based on, for example, the information identifiedat 310. In some embodiments, one or more metrics, or values thereof, maybe determined in response to input, such as user input.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an example of automated electronic computingand communication system event analysis and management in accordancewith this disclosure. In some embodiments, automated electroniccomputing and communication system event analysis and management may beimplemented in one or more computing devices, such as one or more of theclients 112/114/122/124, the servers 132/134/142/144, or a combinationthereof as shown in FIG. 1.

Implementations of automated electronic computing and communicationsystem event analysis and management may include identifying an event at400, automated topology enumeration at 410, automated systeminvestigation at 420, automated event analysis at 430, automatedremediation at 440, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, an event may be identified at 400, which mayinclude identifying information indicating an event in an electroniccomputing and communication system. In some embodiments, a diagnosticunit, such as an element of the electronic computing and communicationsystem, which may be a server, such as server 132/134/142/144 shown inFIG. 1, may receive event information, such as a message, notification,or a signal, indicating an event or incident in the electronic computingand communication system.

In some embodiments, an event, or incident, notification may includeinformation representing a network or device event, an alarm condition,the opening of a service ticket, or any other occurrence describing achange in the electronic computing and communication system. In someembodiments, an event or incident may represent an adverse state of oneor more elements of the electronic computing and communication system.In some embodiments, an event may be a network layer event, a host layerevent, or an event associated with any other network communicationlayer. In some embodiments, the event notification may be received froma system or component external to the elements implementing automatedelectronic computing and communication system event analysis andmanagement. In some embodiments, an event notification may describe anevent affecting one or more network communication layers, such as thenetwork layer, the host or service layer, or any other networkcommunication layer.

In some embodiments, an event may be associated with a subject, whichmay represent a failed or affected service, such as an application,which may provide a service, such as a data storage service, a datamanipulation service, a presentation service, a communication service,or the like. For example, the subject service may be an e-mail service,a printing service, a network file system, directory services, a filesharing service, an instant messaging service, a video telephonyservice, a world wide web service, a time service, or any other servicethat may be included in the electronic computing and communicationsystem.

In an example, an event notification may be a machine-readablecommunication, message, or other signal automatically generated by oneor more of the elements of the electronic computing and communicationsystem that experienced or detected the event.

In some embodiments, identifying an event at 400 may include receiving amessage at the diagnostic unit and evaluating the message to determinewhether the message indicates an event notice. For example, thediagnostic unit may evaluate a list, or other data store, of definedevents based on information included in the message to determine whetherthe message indicates an event. In some embodiments, a message may beidentified as an event notice in response to input, such user input,indicating that the message is an event notice.

In some embodiments, the electronic computing and communication systemtopology may be automatically enumerated at 410. In some embodiments,automatic enumeration may be performed at 410 in response to receivingthe event notification at 400. In some embodiments, automated topologyenumeration at 410 may be similar to the automated topology enumerationshown at 300 in FIG. 3 or the automated topology enumeration shown inFIG. 5. In some embodiments, automated network topology enumeration at410 may include associating one or more discovered element with theevent notification identified at 400. For example, informationdescribing the discovered element, such as a list of enumerated networkdevices, may be associated with, or included in, an incident ticket,such as by including the information describing the discovered device ina work note associated with the incident ticket.

In some embodiments, the electronic computing and communication systemmay be automatically investigated at 420. In some embodiments, automatedelectronic computing and communication system event analysis andmanagement may include identifying an element of the electroniccomputing and communication system based on the computer readablerepresentation of the electronic computing and communication systemgenerated at 410. In some embodiments, automated electronic computingand communication system event analysis and management may includeidentifying a metric for the element of the electronic computing andcommunication system. In some embodiments, automatically investigatingthe electronic computing and communication system at 420 may includedetermining a value for the metric for the element of the electroniccomputing and communication system.

In some embodiments, the electronic computing and communication systemtopology generated at 410 may indicate one or more elements and mayindicate one or more metrics for respective elements, and automaticallyinvestigating the electronic computing and communication system mayinclude determining values, such as current status values, for the oneor more metrics for one or more elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system at 420.

In some embodiments, automatically investigating the electroniccomputing and communication system at 420 may include evaluating, suchas iteratively, the elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system identified at 410.

In some embodiments, current metric values may be determined usingpolling or otherwise querying one or more of the elements of theelectronic computing and communication system. In some embodiments,current metric values may be determined by retrieving stored orhistorical information from ongoing or previously executed metricscollection.

In some embodiments, the metrics may be categorized based on the networkarchitecture, the currently running services, or the like. For example,the categories may include change, availability, performance, capacity,variance, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, one or more values of one or more metrics may beidentified as abnormal, which may indicate a current problem or likelyfuture problem, and the metric may be identified, or flagged, forfurther evaluation.

In some embodiments, automatically investigating the electroniccomputing and communication system at 420 may include evaluating theidentified current metric values to identify a probability that therespective status may affect a related service.

In some embodiments, automatically investigating the electroniccomputing and communication system at 420 may include identifyingnetwork reporting information, such as by querying a network reportinglayer, which may be generated using SNMP polling, SNMP traps, Syslogdata, Netflow data, transaction collection data, or the like.

In some embodiments, automatically investigating the electroniccomputing and communication system at 420 may include identifyingrelevant change management information. Change management informationmay indicate configuration changes occurring in one or more of theenumerated electronic computing and communication system elements. Forexample, a change management system, which may be an external system,may be queried, or polled, to identify recent, or current, trackedchanges to the electronic computing and communication system. In someembodiments, one or more configuration management data sources, whichmay be provided by internal systems, within the electronic computing andcommunication system, or external systems, may be queried to identifyconfiguration changes omitted from the change management system. In someembodiments, one or more external maintenance or configuration systems,such as a vendor system, may be queried to identify changes to elementsthat affect the electronic computing and communication system and areomitted from internal change and configuration management data sources.For example, external changes may include changes by an ISP, such ascircuit maintenance.

In some embodiments, automatically investigating the electroniccomputing and communication system at 420 may include identifyingavailability information. Availability information may include acategory of metrics pertaining to availability of an element of theelectronic computing and communication system, one or more componentsthereof, or a group of elements and related components. In someembodiments, information indicating an abnormal availability may affecta relatively large portion of the electronic computing and communicationsystem and may be associated with a relatively high weight.

In some embodiments, automatically investigating the electroniccomputing and communication system at 420 may include identifyingperformance information. Performance information may include a categoryof metrics pertaining to the performance of an element of the electroniccomputing and communication system, one or more components thereof, or agroup of elements and related components. In some embodiments,information indicating an abnormal performance condition or state mayaffect a relatively large portion of the electronic computing andcommunication system and may be associated with a relatively highweight. For example, performance information may include CPUutilization, memory utilization, traffic utilization, or the like.

In some embodiments, automatically investigating the electroniccomputing and communication system at 420 may include identifyingcapacity information. Capacity information may include a category ofmetrics representing utilization, such as peak or average utilization,relative to maximum capacity or capability for a feature of an elementof the electronic computing and communication system, one or morecomponents thereof, or a group of elements and related components.

In some embodiments, automatically investigating the electroniccomputing and communication system at 420 may include identifyingvariance information. Variance information may include informationindicating a variance in a metric value that exceeds a defined range,such as a range, which may be positive, negative, or both, defined froma defined baseline value for an element of the electronic computing andcommunication system, one or more components thereof, or a group ofelements and related components. For example, a load balancer maybalance a volume or amount of traffic for a server pool within a definedrange, the load balancer may start blocking all inbound traffic to theserver pool, the traffic volume of that pool may drop to zero withoutotherwise generating an error, and which may indicate a variance greaterthan the defined range.

In some embodiments, the topology enumeration at 410, the systeminvestigation at 420, or a combination thereof, may identify one or moreservices that may be affected by the event identified at 400.

In some embodiments, the event may be automatically analyzed at 430. Insome embodiments, automated event analysis at 430 may include evaluatingthe network elements enumerated at 410, the metric values determined at420, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, automated event analysis at 430 may includedetermining whether a metric value associated with an element of theelectronic computing and communication system indicates an abnormalvalue, such as a value that exceeds a defined threshold or a valueoutside a defined expected range associated with the metric and theelement, and the element, the metric, or a combination thereof, may beidentified for further evaluation. For example, an element may beassociated with a flag, which may indicate that an abnormal value wasidentified for the element.

In some embodiments, automated event analysis at 430 may includegenerating output, such as a summary report, which may identify one ormore elements of the electronic computing and communication system forremediation, such as the auto-remediation at 440. For example, elementsmay be identified for remediation based on a probability of failure forthe element, a measure of the expected affect that an identifiedabnormality at the element may have on other elements of the electroniccomputing and communication system, or a combination thereof.

In some embodiments, one or more flags, which may represent abnormalvalues, may be associated with one or more categories, such as thechange category, the availability category, the performance category,the capacity category, the variance category, or the like. In someembodiments, a flag may be associated with a value, such as a weightedvalue, which may represent an indication of a priority for remediatingthe element in response to the event. For example, a relatively lowvalue associated with a flag may indicate a low priority for remediatingthe element and a relatively high value associated with the flag mayindicate a high priority for remediating the element. In someembodiments, flags associated with the availability category may beassociated with a relatively high weight, such as 255, flags associatedwith the change category may be associated with a weight lower than theavailability weight, such as 200, flags associated with the performancecategory may be associated with a weight lower than the change weight,such as 150, and flags associated with the capacity category may beassociated with a weight lower than the performance weight, such as 100.

In some embodiments, the flag value for the metrics within a categorymay be identified based on the category. For example, performancemetrics may be associated with the flag value of 150. In someembodiments, one or more metrics may be associated with a flag valuerelative to, or independent of, the category flag value. For example,the performance category may include a latency metric, and a latencyflag associated with an abnormal value of the latency metric may beassociated with a latency flag value, which may differ from theperformance flag value.

In some embodiments, each layer in the network topology architecture maybe associated with a value, such as a weighted value, which mayrepresent the expected affect that an abnormality of an element of theelectronic computing and communication system within the respectivelayer may have on other, related, elements of the electronic computingand communication system, such as the expected affect that theabnormality may have on a service in communication with the elementassociated with the abnormality. In some embodiments, the networktopology architecture layer values may be based on the relative distanceof the network topology architecture layer from the service. In someembodiments, the network topology architecture layer values may beinversely proportional to the relative distance from the lowest layer.For example, a routing layer, adjacent to the service layer, may have arelatively high network topology architecture layer value, such as 255,a distribution layer, such as a load balancing layer, above, or moreremote than, the routing layer, may have a network topology architecturelayer value lower than the routing layer value, such as 200, a corelayer, above the distribution layer, may have a network topologyarchitecture layer value lower than the distribution layer value, suchas 150, a border layer, above the core layer, may have a networktopology architecture layer value lower than the core layer value, suchas 100, and an Internet layer, above the border layer, may have anetwork topology architecture layer value lower than the border layer,such as 50.

In some embodiments, flag values, including category flag values andmetric flag values, the network topology architecture layer values, or acombination thereof, may be identified based on input, such as userinput.

In some embodiments, automated event analysis at 430 may includegenerating a remediation priority for the element of the electroniccomputing and communication system based on a metric weight a networklayer value. In some embodiments, the remediation priority may indicatea priority, or order, of elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, for remediating, further investigating, repairing,or the like, the electronic computing and communication system inresponse to the event.

In some embodiments, automated event analysis at 430 may includegenerating, storing, outputting, or a combination thereof, one or morereports representing a result of the automated event analysis, such asthe example graphical representation shown in FIG. 6.

In some embodiments, automated event analysis at 430 may includereceiving external information indicating a measure of accuracy for theautomated event analysis. For example, input, such as user input,indicating an evaluation of the automated event analysis, such as ameasurement of accuracy of the automated event analysis may be receivedin response to outputting the automated event analysis information, andmay be stored in association with the automated event analysisinformation.

In some embodiments, one or more elements of the electronic computingand communication system may be automatically remediated at 440. In someembodiments, automatic remediation, or auto-remediation, at 440 mayinclude automatically configuring, or adjusting the configuration of,one or more elements of the electronic computing and communicationsystem. In some embodiments, auto-remediation at 440 may includegenerating one or more remediation records and storing the remediationrecords in association with one or more of the elements enumerated at410, one or more of the metric values determined at 420, the automatedevent analysis information, or a portion thereof, identified at 430, ora combination thereof. For example, the event may be associated with aservice ticket and the auto-remediation information may be included in,or stored in association with, the service ticket.

In some embodiments, auto-remediation at 440 may include executing oneor more defined procedures. In some embodiments, auto-remediation mayinclude determining whether to perform auto-remediation. In someembodiments, whether to perform auto-remediation may be determined basedon a measure of accuracy for the analysis determined at 430, or for oneor more similar analysis. For example, one or more auto-remediationprocedures may be defined for a scope, such as an event type, a subject,an element, an element type, a role, a metric, a metric category, ametric value, a layer, or any other aspect, or combination of aspects,or the electronic computing and communication system, an aggregate,maximum, or most recent, value of automated event analysis correspondingto the scope may exceed a defined threshold, such as a threshold definedin response to input, such as user input, and the auto-remediationprocedures may be implemented. In some embodiments, the value for theautomated event analysis may be within the defined threshold, orauto-remediation procedures may be unavailable, and auto-remediation maybe omitted.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example of electronic computing andcommunication system automated topology enumeration in accordance withthis disclosure. In some embodiments, automated topology enumeration maybe implemented in one or more computing devices, such as one or more ofthe clients 112/114/122/124, the servers 132/134/142/144, or acombination thereof as shown in FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, automated, or automatic, topology enumeration maybe performed at 500, which may include generating a computer readablerepresentation of the electronic computing and communication systemusing automated topology enumeration. The computer readablerepresentation may represent a plurality of elements of the electroniccomputing and communication system organized in a hierarchy of networklayers.

Implementations of automated topology enumeration at 500 may includegenerating information representing physical topology at 510, generatinginformation representing logical topology at 520, or a combinationthereof. In some embodiments, the physical topology may represent thephysical configuration of elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, such as routers, switches, computers, servers,cables, and the like. In some embodiments, the logical topology mayrepresent the organization of the flow of information in the electroniccomputing and communication system, such as routing information.

In some embodiments, automated network topology enumeration at 500 mayinclude generating or collecting a machine-readable description of oneor more devices in the electronic computing and communication system,one or more subcomponents of the devices, or a combination thereof. Insome embodiments, automated network topology enumeration at 500 mayinclude identifying physical interconnections of the devices andsubcomponents. In some embodiments, automated network topologyenumeration at 500 may include generating a machine-readable descriptionof connections between physical servicers and a network topology stack.In some embodiments, automated network topology enumeration at 500 mayinclude generating a description of logical network connectivity.

In some embodiments, automated enumeration at 500 may includeautomatically discovering substantially all of the elements of theelectronic computing and communication system.

In some embodiments, automated enumeration at 500 may includeautomatically discovering elements based on one or more direct orindirect logical or physical relationships with a defined subject, suchas a service affected by an identified event. In some embodiments, oneor more elements of the electronic computing and communication systemwithin a defined relationship distance from an affected service may beautomatically discovered, detected, or identified. For example, aportion of the electronic computing and communication system may includeelements communicating with external devices via an internet serviceprovider, and the defined relationship distance may include the elementscommunicating with external devices via the internet service provider,which may include discovering the internet service provider, or aportion thereof, discovering ports on switches, or any other element orcombination of elements. In some embodiments, one or more elements ortypes of element may correspond with a network edge, and may indicate anouter limit for automated topology enumeration.

In some embodiments, information representing physical connectivity maybe generated at 510. In some embodiments, generating the informationrepresenting the physical connectivity layer at 510 may includeenumerating the physical elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, enumerating the respective physical components ofeach physical element, generating information representing connectionsbetween the elements and the respective components thereof, or acombination thereof, as indicated at 512. For example, the components ofa physical element of the electronic computing and communication systemmay include attached interfaces, ports, port-channels, virtual localarea networks, or the like.

In some embodiments, a connection, such as a connection between twophysical elements of the electronic computing and communication system,may be represented as a sequence alternating between physical elements,such as a device or a component, and relationships descriptions, such asconsistsOf, connectedTo, partOf, or the like. As used in herein thetopology relationship descriptions are non-limiting. For example, anelement that ‘consistsOf’ a component may also ‘consistOf’ othercomponents.

In some embodiments, automated network topology enumeration may includephysical discovery, such as simple network management protocol (SNMP)discovery as shown at 513. For example, a SNMP collector may performSNMP discovery. In some embodiments, physical discovery may includeusing a discovery function of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform.

In some embodiments, SNMP discovery may include identifying informationdescribing one or more elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system, which may include information indicating amanufacturer of the element, a device type of the element, a model ofthe element, a firmware version for the element, one or more hardwarecomponents of the element, or a combination thereof. In someembodiments, SNMP discovery may include evaluating, or processing, oneor more SNMP management information bases (MIBs), and enumerating one ormore object identifiers indicated in a respective management informationbase, each of which may represent a respective element of the electroniccomputing and communication system. In some embodiments, one or moreSNMP MIBs may be identified from an MIB repository, may be provided by avendor, or both.

In some embodiments, automated topology enumeration may includegenerating information describing connections between the enumeratedelements, such as an interface to interface connection between aninterface of a first device and an interface of a second device as shownat 514. In some embodiments, generating information describingconnections between the enumerated elements may include identifyingnetwork protocol information for the elements, such as Cisco DiscoveryProtocol (CDP) information, Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP)information, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the networkprotocol information may be determined by recovering, or pulling, theinformation, or a portion thereof, from one or more network devices. Insome embodiments, component connectivity information, such as interfaceconnectivity information, may be generated based on the network protocolinformation. For example, the component connectivity information mayindicate that a first component of a first device is connected to asecond component of a second device. In some embodiments, theinformation describing connections between the enumerated elements mayinclude data link layer information.

In some embodiments, the physical device connectivity information, suchas the information identified using SNMP discovery and the interfaceconnectivity information, such as the information identified using CDPand LLDP information, may be combined. For example, a first element ofthe electronic computing and communication system, ‘deviceA’, mayinclude a first interface component, such as a first Ethernet port,‘eth0’, and a second element of the electronic computing andcommunication system, ‘deviceB’, may include a second interfacecomponent, such as a second Ethernet port, ‘eth1’. The first device maycommunicate with the second device using the first interface componentand the second interface component respectively. The physical deviceconnectivity information, such as the information identified using SNMPdiscovery, may identify the first device, the first interface, that thefirst device includes (consistsOf), and communicates via, the firstinterface, the second device, the second interface, and that the seconddevice includes (consistsOf), and communicates via, the secondinterface. The interface connectivity information, such as theinformation identified using CDP and LLDP information, may indicate theconnectivity between the first device and the second device via thefirst interface and the second interface respectively. In someembodiments, the combined information may be expressed directionally.For example, the combined information may express the connectivity fromthe first device to the second device, from the second device to thefirst device, or both, which may be expressed as the following:deviceA→consistsOf→eth0→connectedTo→eth1→partOf→deviceB,deviceB→consistsOf→eth1→connectedTo→eth0→partOf→deviceA.

In some embodiments, automatic network topology enumeration may includegenerating information representing physical device networkconnectivity, such as connectivity for a server or a server instance tocommunicate on a physical network portion or segment as shown at 516. Insome embodiments, information representing physical device networkconnectivity may describe how a physical element of the electroniccomputing and communication system connects with the network topologystack. In some embodiments, the information representing physical deviceconnectivity may be identified based on server media access control(MAC) address to Top of Rack (ToR) switch port mapping. In someembodiments, this information may be retrieved from a table, or otherinformation store, such as a CnsCamTable generated by Cisco networkingservices (CNS), which may include layer 2 discovery information, such asport mapping information, as shown at 517. For example, informationdescribing physical connectivity between a first element of theelectronic computing and communication system, ‘serverA’, and a secondelement of the electronic computing and communication system, ‘switchA’,may be expressed as the following:serverA→consistsOf→interface/MAC→connectedTo→switchPort→partOf→switch.

In some embodiments, automated network topology enumeration may includeusing a dynamic table in a network switch that maps MAC addresses toports, such as a content addressable memory (CAM) table, a MAC table, afilter table, or any network routing or addressing information store. Insome embodiments, automated network topology enumeration may includeusing a dynamic table collection to create a topology map that includesnetwork devices, such as servers.

In some embodiments, automated network topology enumeration may includecircuit providers, internet service providers, or both, in the topology.In some embodiments, automated network topology enumeration may includeintegrating with the CMDB to define device roles and respective weightedvalues, which may be used to build a network architecture awaretopology. In some embodiments, automated network topology enumerationmay include collecting information to determine an information trafficflow patterns, such as paths, which may include information such asdynamic routing tables, failover status of devices, and addressresolution protocol (ARP) to port mapping.

In some embodiments, automatic network topology enumeration may includeassociating a customer instance with a network interface, such as a ToRswitch port. In some embodiments, a customer instance may represent anapplication or service associated with a customer and executing, atleast in part, on a physical server. In some embodiments, information,such as information stored in the CMDB, may indicate an associationbetween a customer instance and one or more servers, which may becombined with the physical device network connectivity information, suchthat customer instances may be mapped to identified ToR switch ports.

In some embodiments, automatic network topology enumeration may includegenerating information representing logical connectivity for theelectronic computing and communication system as shown at 520. In someembodiments, the logical connectivity information may be generated basedon, for example, network architecture information, routing protocolstatus information, default gateway information, circuit connectivityinformation, ISP connectivity information, hot standby router protocol(HSRP) status information, such as active or passive status, virtualrouter redundancy protocol (VRRP) status information, netscreen standbyrouting protocol (NSRP) status information, or the like, as shown at522.

In some embodiments, the logical network architecture may include ahierarchy of logical network architecture layers and an element of theelectronic computing and communication system, such as a router or aswitch, may operate in one or more logical network architecture layers.In some embodiments, one or more device roles may be defined and stored,such as in the CMDB, and may represent the operation of an element ofelectronic computing and communication system in an identified logicalnetwork architecture layer.

In some embodiments, a network architecture layer value may beassociated with a defined device role. In some embodiments, a networkarchitecture layer value may indicate a network layer associated with adefine role. In some embodiments, relative network layer orientation ofelements in the electronic computing and communication system may beidentified based on the associated network architecture layer values.For example, automatic network topology enumeration may includedetermining whether an element of the electronic computing andcommunication system is above, below, or lateral to another element ofthe electronic computing and communication system based on therespective network architecture layer values associated with the rolesassociated with the respective elements.

In some embodiments, one or more elements of the electronic computingand communication system may operate using an active mode or a passivemode. In some embodiments, the physical connectivity information and thelogical connectivity information may be combined and routinginformation, such as network traffic patterns or paths, may beidentified by polling, such as SNMP polling, elements of the electroniccomputing and communication system to identify the active or passivestatus of the respective elements, as shown at 523.

In some embodiments, an electronic computing and communication systemmay use dynamic routing protocols to route traffic. In some embodiments,such as embodiments that include using dynamic routing protocols toroute traffic, the routing information may be identified based on, forexample, open shortest path first (OSPF) routing protocol, bordergateway protocol (BGP), or the like. In some embodiments, one or moreelements of the electronic computing and communication system, such as aserver, may perform a hashing function, which may be used to determine aroute, and a corresponding pair of network devices may be included in anetwork path.

In some embodiments, automated network topology enumeration may includeproviding, using, or both, a topology application programming interface(API) as shown at 530. For example, a function exposed by the topologyAPI may receive an identifier of an element of the electronic computingand communication system, such as a network device or a server, and mayrespond with information indicating one or more elements of theelectronic computing and communication system, which may be incommunication with the identified element, such as elements on the samenetwork architecture layer as the identified element, elements in thenetwork architecture layers below the identified element, elements inthe network architecture layers above the identified element, or acombination thereof.

The topology API may receive a topology request for the an element ofthe electronic computing and communication system associated with a DSRrole, and may respond with information indicating elements of theelectronic computing and communication system lateral to, or in the samenetwork architecture layer as, the DSR role, such as the third networkarchitecture layer, elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system in the network architecture layers above the DSRlayer, such as the fourth, fifth, and sixth network architecture layers,and elements of the electronic computing and communication system in thenetwork architecture layers below the DSR layer, such as the first andsecond network architecture layers.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an example of an interface for electroniccomputing and communication system automated event analysis inaccordance with this disclosure. In some embodiments, automated eventanalysis, such as the automated event analysis shown at 430 in FIG. 4,may include generating, storing, outputting, presenting, or acombination thereof, one or more reports representing a result of theautomated event analysis.

In some embodiments, the graphical representation of the automated eventanalysis may include a graphical representation of an external device600 in communication with a service 610 via a path 620. The graphicalrepresentation may include one or more elements of the electroniccomputing and communication system, shown as small circles, within oneor more network topology architecture layers 630/640/650/660/670. Insome embodiments, the path 620 may include one or more of the moreelements of the electronic computing and communication system, such aselement 632 in layer 630, element 642 in layer 640, element 652 in layer650, elements 662 and 664 in layer 660, and element 672 in layer 670, asshown. Although a single path is shown for simplicity and clarity,elements of the electronic computing and communication system maycommunicate with other elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system or with external communicating elements, such asthe external device 600, via any number of paths.

In some embodiments, the network topology architecture layers630/640/650/660/670 may correspond with respective network topologyarchitecture layer values. For example, the layer 630 most remote fromthe service 610 may represent the Internet layer and may be associatedwith relatively low value, such as 50, the layer 640 inside, or below,the Internet layer 630, may represent the border layer and may beassociated with value greater than the Internet layer 630 value, such as100, the layer 650 inside, or below, the border layer 640, may representa core layer and may be associated with value greater than the borderlayer 640 value, such as 150, the layer 660 inside, or below, the corelayer 650, may represent a distribution layer and may be associated withvalue greater than the core layer 650 value, such as 200, and the layer670 inside, or below, the distribution layer 660, may represent anaggregation layer and may be associated with value greater than thedistribution layer 650 value, such as 255. Although not shown in FIG. 6,in some embodiments, the layer values may be shown in accordance withthe layers.

In some embodiments, the network topology architecture layer values maybe defined values, such as values identified in response to input, suchas user input. In some embodiments, the defined network topologyarchitecture layer values may be adjusted based on system investigation,such as the system investigation shown at 420 in FIG. 4.

In some embodiments, whether an element of the electronic computing andcommunication system is in the communication path 620 may be indicatedgraphically, or visually. For example, elements in the communicationpath 620 may be shown using a color or size that differs from elementsomitted from the communication path 620. As shown, elements omitted fromthe communication path 620 are shown as small white circles with thinborders, and elements 632/642/652/662/664/672 included in thecommunication path 620 are shown as small circles with thick borders.

In some embodiments, the graphical representation may indicate that oneor more of the elements 632/642/652/662/664/672 included in thecommunication path 620 corresponds with an abnormal metric value. Forexample, as shown, a flag may be shown in association with one or moreelements 632/642/652/662/664/672 identified as corresponding with anabnormal metric value. Although shown as black flags in FIG. 6, in someembodiments, a flags may graphically represent a corresponding metriccategory. For example, the flag associated with the element 632 in theInternet layer 630 may be colored orange, which may indicate that theflag is associated with a performance metric, the flag associated withthe right element 662 in the distribution layer 660 may be coloredyellow, which may indicate that the flag is associated with a changemetric, the flag associated with the left element 664 in thedistribution layer 660 may be colored blue, which may indicate that theflag is associated with a Capacity metric, and the flag associated withthe element 672 in the aggregation layer 670 may be colored red, whichmay indicate that the flag is associated with a availability metric. Insome embodiments, the graphical representation of an element mayindicate whether the element is associated with an abnormal metricvalue. In some embodiments, the color of elements included in thecommunication path that are not associated with abnormal metric valuesmay be shown in a color that differs from the color of elements includedin the communication path that are associated with abnormal metricvalues. For example, the element 642 in the border layer 640 and theelement 652 in the core layer 650, may be shown in a color, such asgreen, that differs from the color, such as red, of elements632/662/664/672 included in the communication path 620 that areassociated with abnormal metric values. In FIG. 6 the elements 642/652included in the communication path 620 that are not associated withabnormal metric values are shown with light stippling and the color ofelements 632/662/664/672 included in the communication path 620 that areassociated with abnormal metric values are shown with heavy stippling.

Although not shown separately in FIG. 6, in some embodiments, aremediation priority may be determined for each of the elements632/642/652/662/664/672 included in the communication path 620 based on,for example, the respective layer value and metric category value, maybe determined and presented. For example, a list of the elements632/642/652/662/664/672 included in the communication path 620 orderedby remediation priority may be presented.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the external device 620 communicateswith the service 610, via an element 632 in the Internet layer 630,which may be associated with an abnormal performance metric value. Thelayer value for the internet layer 630 may be 50, the metric categoryvalue for the abnormal performance metric may be 150, and theremediation priority for the element 632 in the Internet layer 630 maybe, for example, a product of the layer value and the metric categoryvalue, 7500.

The communication path may traverse the network from the element 632 inthe Internet layer 630 to the element 642 in the border layer 640, whichmay not be associated with an abnormal metric value. The layer value forthe border layer 640 may be 100, a value of zero may indicate that theelement 642 is not associated with an abnormal metric value, and theremediation priority for the element 642 in the border layer 640 may be0.

The communication path may traverse the network from the element 642 inthe border layer 640 to the element 652 in the core layer 650, which maynot be associated with an abnormal metric value. The layer value for thecore layer 650 may be 150, a value of zero may indicate that the element652 is not associated with an abnormal metric value, and the remediationpriority for the element 652 in the core layer 650 may be 0.

The communication path may traverse the network from the element 652 inthe core layer 650 to the right element 662 in the distribution layer660, which may which may be associated with an abnormal change metricvalue. The layer value for the distribution layer 660 may be 200, themetric category value for the abnormal change metric may be 200, and theremediation priority for the right element 662 in the distribution layer660 may be 40000.

The communication path may traverse the network from the right element662 in the distribution layer 650 to the left element 664 in thedistribution layer 660, which may which may be associated with anabnormal capacity metric value. The layer value for the distributionlayer 660 may be 200, the metric category value for the abnormalcapacity metric may be 100, and the remediation priority for the leftelement 664 in the distribution layer 660 may be 20000.

The communication path may traverse the network from the left element654 in the distribution layer 660 to the element 672 in the aggregationlayer 670, which may which may be associated with an abnormalavailability metric value. The layer value for the aggregation layer 670may be 255, the metric category value for the abnormal availabilitymetric may be 255, and the remediation priority for the element 672 inthe aggregation layer 670 may be 65025.

The elements may presented in remediation priority order with theelement 672 in the aggregation layer 670, having the highest remediationpriority, first, followed by the right element 662 in the distributionlayer 660, the left element 664 in the distribution layer 660, theelement 632 in the Internet layer 630, the element 642 in the borderlayer 640, and the element 652 in the core layer 650.

The implementations of the electronic computing and communication systemincluding clients 112/114/122/124 and servers 132/134/142/144 (and thealgorithms, methods, instructions, etc. stored thereon and/or executedthereby) can be realized in hardware, software, or any combinationthereof. The hardware can include, for example, computers, intellectualproperty (IP) cores, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs),programmable logic arrays, optical processors, programmable logiccontrollers, microcontrollers, servers, microprocessors, digital signalprocessors or any other suitable circuit. In the claims, the term“processor” should be understood as encompassing any of the foregoinghardware, either singly or in combination. The terms “signal” and “data”are used interchangeably. Further, portions of clients 112/114/122/124and servers 132/134/142/144 are not necessarily implemented in the samemanner.

Further, in an embodiment, for example, clients 112/114/122/124 andservers 132/134/142/144 can be implemented using a special purposecomputer/processor, which can contain specialized hardware for carryingout any of the methods, algorithms, or instructions described herein.

Further, all or a portion of embodiments of the present invention can beimplemented using a special purpose computer/processor with a computerprogram that, when executed, carries out any of the respectivetechniques, algorithms and/or instructions described herein, and whichcan contain specialized hardware for carrying out any of the techniques,algorithms, or instructions described herein.

Implementations or portions of implementations of the above disclosurescan take the form of a computer program product accessible from, forexample, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium. Acomputer-usable or computer-readable medium can be any device that can,for example, tangibly contain, store, communicate, or transport aprogram or data structure for use by or in connection with anyprocessor. The medium can be, for example, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, or a semiconductor device. Other suitablemediums are also available. Such computer-usable or computer-readablemedia can be referred to as non-transitory memory or media, and mayinclude RAM or other volatile memory or storage devices that may changeover time.

As used herein, the terminology “determine” and “identify”, or anyvariations thereof, includes selecting, ascertaining, computing, lookingup, receiving, determining, establishing, obtaining, or otherwiseidentifying or determining in any manner whatsoever using one or more ofthe devices shown and described herein. As used herein, the terminology“generating”, or any variations thereof, includes combining,calculating, computing, aggregating, rendering, laying out, drawing, orotherwise producing in any manner whatsoever using one or more of thedevices shown and described herein. As used herein, the terminology“automatic”, “automatically”, “automated”, or any variation thereof,including use of the prefix “auto-”, includes initiating or executing byone or more of the devices shown and described herein without humanintervention. As used herein, the terminology “cardinality” includes anumber or count of elements or items in a set, group, plurality, or anyother collection of zero or more elements. As used herein, theterminology “receiving” includes receiving via a network, retrievingfrom memory, or otherwise ascertaining the identified information.

The above-described embodiments have been described in order to alloweasy understanding of the present invention and do not limit the presentinvention. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover variousmodifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope ofthe appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadestinterpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalentstructure as is permitted under the law.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of automatically analyzing an electroniccomputing and communication system event, the method comprising:identifying information indicating an event in an electronic computingand communication system; generating a computer readable representationof the electronic computing and communication system using automatedtopology enumeration, wherein the representation represents a pluralityof elements of the electronic computing and communication systemorganized in a hierarchical plurality of network layers; identifying anelement of the electronic computing and communication system from theplurality of elements based on the computer readable representation ofthe electronic computing and communication system; identifying a metricfor the element of the electronic computing and communication system;automatically investigating the electronic computing and communicationsystem to determine a value for the metric for the element of theelectronic computing and communication system; on a condition that thevalue is an abnormal value, generating a remediation priority for theelement of the electronic computing and communication system based on ametric weight associated with the metric and a network layer valueassociated with a network layer from the hierarchical plurality ofnetwork layers, wherein the element is associated with a network layerrole corresponding to the network layer; generating a graphicalrepresentation of the electronic computing and communication system, thegraphical representation indicating the remediation priority; andoutputting or storing the graphical representation.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein automated topology enumeration includes: automaticallydiscovering the plurality of elements; generating a computer readablerepresentation of physical connectivity for the plurality of elements;and generating a computer readable representation of logicalconnectivity for the plurality of elements.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein automatically discovering the plurality of elements includesautomatically discovering an internet service provider.
 4. The method ofclaim 1, wherein automated topology enumeration includes: identifyingthe network layer role associated with the element; and identifying thenetwork layer associated with the element based on the network layerrole.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein identifying the network layerrole includes: identifying information representing the element; anddetermining the network layer role by evaluating a configurationmanagement database based on the information representing the element.6. The method of claim 1, wherein automated topology enumerationincludes: identifying simple network management protocol discoveryinformation indicating the element.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinidentifying the simple network management protocol discovery informationindicating the element includes identifying information indicating acomponent of the element.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein automatedtopology enumeration includes: identifying network protocol informationfor the element, wherein the network protocol information for theelement indicates a physical connection between the element and a secondelement of the electronic computing and communication system.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein identifying the network protocol informationfor the element includes identifying network protocol information thatindicates that the physical connection physical connection between theelement and the second element includes a physical connection between acomponent of the element and a component of the second element.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein identifying the metric includes: identifyinga plurality of metric categories; identifying a metric category for themetric from the plurality of metric categories; and identifying themetric weight associated with the metric based on the metric category.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of metric categoriesincludes: a change category including a plurality of change metrics,wherein each change metric from the plurality of change metricsrepresents a respective managed change information element representinga managed change to the electronic computing and communication system;an availability category including a plurality of availability metrics,wherein each availability metric from the plurality of availabilitymetrics represents a respective availability of an element of theelectronic computing and communication system; a performance categoryincluding a plurality of performance metrics, wherein each performancemetric from the plurality of performance metrics represents a respectiveperformance of an element of the electronic computing and communicationsystem; a capacity category including a plurality of capacity metrics,wherein each capacity metric from the plurality of capacity metricsrepresents a respective available capacity of an element of theelectronic computing and communication system; or a variance categoryincluding a plurality of variance metrics, wherein each variance metricfrom the plurality of variance metrics represents a respective varianceof another metric from a corresponding defined metric value for anelement of the electronic computing and communication system.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: automatically remediating theelectronic computing and communication system.
 13. The method of claim12, wherein automatically remediating the electronic computing andcommunication system includes: identifying a remediation procedureassociated with the element and the event; and performing theremediation procedure.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein generating thegraphical representation includes generating the graphicalrepresentation such that the graphical representation includes: agraphical representation of the hierarchical plurality of networklayers, including a graphical representation of the network layer; agraphical representation of the element spatially corresponding to thegraphical representation of the network layer; on a condition that thevalue is an abnormal value, a graphical representation indicating thatthe value is an abnormal value and indicating a category associated withthe metric.
 15. A method of automatically analyzing an electroniccomputing and communication system event, the method comprising:identifying information indicating an event in an electronic computingand communication system; generating a computer readable representationof the electronic computing and communication system using automatedtopology enumeration, wherein the computer readable representationrepresents a plurality of elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system organized in a hierarchical plurality of networklayers, wherein each respective element from the plurality of elementsis associated with a respective network layer role corresponding to arespective network layer; identifying a set of elements of theelectronic computing and communication system from plurality of elementsbased on the computer readable representation of the electroniccomputing and communication system; identifying a plurality of metrics,wherein each element from the set of elements is associated with atleast one respective metric from the plurality of metrics; automaticallyinvestigating the electronic computing and communication system todetermine a plurality of values, wherein each value from the pluralityof values corresponds with a respective metric from the plurality ofmetrics and a respective element from the set of elements; generating aplurality of remediation priorities, wherein each remediation priorityfrom the plurality of remediation priorities corresponds with arespective value from the plurality of values, a respective metric fromthe plurality of metrics, and a respective element from the set ofelements, and wherein each remediation priority from the plurality ofremediation priorities is based on a metric weight associated with therespective corresponding metric and a network layer value associatedwith a respective network layer associated with a respective networklayer role associated with the respective element; generating agraphical representation of the electronic computing and communicationsystem, the graphical representation indicating at least some of theremediation priorities; and outputting or storing the representation.16. The method of claim 15, wherein automated topology enumerationincludes: automatically discovering the plurality of elements;generating a computer readable representation of physical connectivityfor the plurality of elements; and generating a computer readablerepresentation of logical connectivity for the plurality of elements.17. The method of claim 16, wherein automatically discovering theplurality of elements includes automatically discovering an internetservice provider.
 18. The method of claim 15, wherein, for each elementfrom the plurality of elements, automated topology enumeration includes:identifying the respective network layer role associated with theelement; and identifying the network layer associated with the elementbased on the network layer role.
 19. The method of claim 18, whereinidentifying the network layer role includes: identifying informationrepresenting the element; and determining the network layer role byevaluating a configuration management database based on the informationrepresenting the element.
 20. The method of claim 15, wherein generatingthe graphical representation includes generating the graphicalrepresentation such that the graphical representation includes: agraphical representation of the hierarchical plurality of networklayers; a graphical representation of each element from the set ofelements; and for each element from the set of elements, on a conditionthat the corresponding value is an abnormal value, a graphicalrepresentation indicating that the respective value is an abnormal valueand indicating a category associated with the corresponding metric. 21.A method of automatically analyzing an electronic computing andcommunication system event, the method comprising: identifyinginformation indicating an event in an electronic computing andcommunication system, wherein the event is associated with a service;generating a computer readable representation of the electroniccomputing and communication system using automated topology enumeration,wherein the computer readable representation represents a plurality ofelements of the electronic computing and communication system organizedin a hierarchical plurality of network layers, wherein each respectiveelement from the plurality of elements is associated with a respectivenetwork layer role corresponding to a respective network layer;identifying a set of elements of the electronic computing andcommunication system from plurality of elements based on the computerreadable representation of the electronic computing and communicationsystem; identifying a plurality of metrics, wherein each element fromthe set of elements is associated with at least one respective metricfrom the plurality of metrics; automatically investigating theelectronic computing and communication system to determine a pluralityof values, wherein each value from the plurality of values correspondswith a respective metric from the plurality of metrics and a respectiveelement from the set of elements; generating a plurality of remediationpriorities, wherein each remediation priority from the plurality ofremediation priorities corresponds with a respective value from theplurality of values, a respective metric from the plurality of metrics,and a respective element from the set of elements, and wherein eachremediation priority from the plurality of remediation priorities isbased on a metric weight associated with the respective correspondingmetric and a network layer value associated with a respective networklayer associated with a respective network layer role associated withthe respective element; generating a graphical representation of theelectronic computing and communication system, wherein generating thegraphical representation includes: generating a graphical representationof the hierarchical plurality of network layers, wherein the servicecorresponds with a network layer from the hierarchical plurality ofnetwork layers, for each element from the set of elements: generating agraphical representation of the element; and on a condition that a valuefrom the plurality of values corresponding to the element is an abnormalvalue, generating a graphical representation indicating that the valueis an abnormal value and indicating a category associated with a metricfrom the plurality of metrics associated with the value, and generatinga graphical representation of a path between an external device and theservice, wherein the path intersects with at least one element from theset of elements in each network layer from the hierarchical plurality ofnetwork layers; and outputting the graphical representation forpresentation to a user.
 22. The method of claim 21, whereinautomatically investigating the electronic computing and communicationsystem includes: identifying a monitoring template associated with atleast one element from the set of elements; and identifying at least onevalue from the plurality of values using the monitoring template.